Police: New Orleans mother killed young son, daughter

Thornton charged with two counts of murder

A 23-year-old New Orleans woman was charged with two counts of first-degree murder hours after investigators found her two young children dead in a Gert Town apartment on Wednesday.

Chelsea Thornton was being held at Orleans Parish Prison. New Orleans police said she admitted in a recorded interview to shooting her 3-year-old son and drowning her 4-year-old daughter in a bathtub Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators said she then left the home, in the 3300 block of Audubon Court, and took a bus to a hospital because she was suffering from stomach pains and a headache.

The children's grandmother found the lifeless bodies of the toddlers about 5:30 p.m. and called for help. No one else was at the home, officials said.

One investigator could only describe it as a "terrible, terrible tragedy."

NOPD did not release a possible motive for the murders and asked anyone with information on the suspect or crimes to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-111.

The investigation into the killings is ongoing.

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